Nature with Nev

Well, my sunrise visit to Goldcliff today was met with low cloud and high winds. As a result, there was no sunrise to speak of and I only managed this half descent photo of some Sun through a brief break in the clouds. The high winds generally kept the birds hunkered down, and I only managed 30 species of birds. I made my way from the car park and headed straight to the sea wall, noting along the way Song Thrushes, Ravens, Magpies, Greylag Geese, Herring Gulls, Grey Heron and Mallards. Once on the sea wall I scanned for the Black Redstart I found on Thursday - but it was nowhere to be seen. The howling wind soon brought tears to the eyes and putting my hood up prevented me from getting sore ears. Not the best birding weather but us birders are made of strong stuff.  Scanning across the third lagoon I could see Shoveler and Teal and several Lesser Black-backed Gulls were battling against the winds as they passed. A Wren and a Moorhen were calling and a Buzzard passed over. ...

With a few cobwebs still left to blow away, and with a reasonable forecast, I headed down to Peterstone sluice farm on the Gwent Levels. I was glad I came here as the sea was really calm, with Wigeon, Shelduck and Teal just floating on the gentle waves.  The tide was high and this had pushed in a selection of birds. En-route to the spot where I scan out to sea I saw Chaffinches, Siskins, Blackbirds, Great Tit, Dunnocks, Meadow Pipits, numerous Song Thrushes, Magpies, Crows, Robins and Jackdaws. A tiny Wren belted out its loud early morning call and a Cettis Warbler called from the cover of the narrow strip of reeds, tantalisingly close but staying well hidden. Several Greenfinches flew overhead calling, and as I approached the water I could hear the distant calls of  Curlews and Redshanks.  Resting Redshanks. I approached the sea wall and immediately noticed how still and calm the sea was, with only the gentlest of waves. Numerous Wigeon and Teal had a small gro...

I have just sent off this Saturday's completed wildlife article to the Majorca Daily Bulletin covering birds feet, and featuring the Purple Gallinule, Fan-tailed Warbler, Red Kite, Black-winged Stilt and Grey Heron, with the Turnstone comprising bird of the week.                             For the full free article, please email me on wildmajorca@gmail.com

Candlesnuff Fungus After the Christmas period, I decided to blow the cobwebs away and take an inland stroll around a woodland site I particularly like. I wish I had taken my binoculars as there was a nice group of Bramblings mixed in with Chaffinches along the woodland path amongst the Beech mast. However, armed with my camera, today I was just looking to do a few hours in a change of scenery for fungi. I found some lovely specimens of Candle Snuff fungi and got some nice close up shots. In abundance on the fallen branches of Elder, was Jelly Ear fungus. Also of note was Turkey Tail, Coral Spot fungus, Birch Mazegill, Beech Jelly Disc, Root Rot and several groups of Silver-leaf Fungus.  Leafy Brain fungus My favourite find of the morning however had to be Leafy Brain fungus - a new one for me and quite a distinctive looking fungus. This unusual looking jelly fungus has a gelatinous soft fruit body, made up of shiny brown lobes which are wrinkled. As with other jelly ...

Well as some of you know I have been trying to get down to Goldcliff on the Gwent Levels for a number of Saturdays now, and with the combination of bad weather and running a bird course I finally got there this morning. Canada Goose There was a good mix of birds about and I started to see (from first light) Crows, Jackdaws, a Pheasant, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Robin and 4 Common Gulls which was nice. From hide 1 I watched a male Peregrine perched on a rock on the island which subsequently stayed there all morning. Blackbirds and 2 Grey Herons were added to the list but there wasn't much else on the lagoon so I made my way slowly towards the sea wall, stopping off at one of the viewing platforms where a nice female Marsh Harrier was hunting (unsuccessfully) over the second lagoon. (Below male Peregrine). Bird life from the sea wall fared better, and on the mudflats and out at sea I watched 77 Curlew, 17 Oystercatchers, Canada Geese, 536 Wigeon and 2 Great Black-backed ...

This weeks article has been sent off to the Majorca Daily Bulletin covering bird beaks and looking at the Osprey, Purple Gallinule, Common Crossbill and the Avocet, and featuring the Kingfisher as bird of the week. For a free copy of the full article please email me at wildmajorca@gmail.com 

The horrible weather is keeping me away from the coast and more inland where the shelter under the trees gives a little respite from the rain. Whilst on one such walk recently along a ridge on the outskirts of Caerphilly, I spotted some mushrooms growing from amongst the leaves of Beech which was carpeting the woodland floor.  i thought at first they were a member of the Russula group, but although i scoured my fungi books I still wasn't sure. I sent the pictures to Pat O'Reilly MBE of First Nature, and author of several books among them the excellent Fascinated by Fungi book. Pat emailed me back confirming their identity, which as it turned out, was a new species for my fungi list.  So here I present to you Butter Caps. Now commonly known as the Butter Cap, they were until recently often referred to as the Greasy Toughshank.  They are very common and widespread across Britain and Ireland. Sometimes found in deciduous woodland, they are mainly associated with c...

Pleased to say that my article for this Saturday's newspaper has been sent covering rare colours on Majorca, including rare or special birds with colours in their name, such as Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Red-flanked Bluetail, Purple Gallinule, Yellowhammer and White Stork.  For a full copy of the article please email me on wildmajorca@gmail.com 

Saturday 8th December saw me leading a bird course for eight participants, one who had travelled from Worcester and another from West Sussex with the remaining group being local. The venue was the The Three Pools permaculture farm in Llanvetherine near Abergavenny, and my thanks to Tom for the use of the farm. During the morning I gave the group a quiz featuring some birds to identify followed by looking at flight and feathers and how they work, skulls and beaks (their different uses) and feet (their different uses as well). Next we looked at eggs (all with the use of power point slides and artefacts that I had brought along for the group to see and hold.  Following this I had set a set of scenarios where in twos they had to work out what species they had seen by a set of clues to the identity - with a different clue given as they worked their way through the field guide. This technique allowed the group to eliminate every species of bird down to the one they had actually seen. ...

I have just sent my article for this Saturday covering Cuber Reservoir on Mallorca to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, and featuring the Osprey as bird of the week. If you would like the full article please email on wildmajorca@gmail.com 

  Birch Mazegill. Well the rain put paid to me going down to the Gwent Levels again today, so I decided instead on a few hours around the woodlands of the Cefn Onn Ridge. I guessed that the canopy would afford me some respite from the rain and it duly did. So with my camera at the ready, off I went in search of fungi. The first species I came across was a log covered in Jelly Ear fungus with some Cramp Balls close by. The usual Candle Snuff fungus protruded from logs partially hidden in the leaf litter. Moving on to another section of the woods I found more Jelly Ear which seemed to be in profusion today, and a nice little group of Bonnet Mycenas . Nearby was Beech Woodwort and Turkey Tail , and clumps of Hairy Curtain Crust .  As I left this section of woods I spotted some rain drops that had formed on the fruiting bodies of Leucobreum Galucum moss (pictures below). It looked like nature had taken on an artistic moment and looked very pretty close up. ...